WWE SmackDown 11/13/2026: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," a show that had a lot of work to do tonight in terms of building toward both Survivor Series 2026 and the John Cena Classic. Charlotte Flair, as it turned out, was involved in both, getting an official invite to the Classic in the opening segment before issuing a triumphant challenge for women's WarGames later on. We have thoughts about both those things here in the column, along with the tag team championship match, Kevin Owens confronting Sami Zayn, and the main event between GUNTHER and Finn Balor.

As always, if you missed the show, feel free to catch up with everything that went down Friday night via our "WWE SmackDown" 11/13/26 live blog. The blog has its own bits of commentary these days, but for in-depth opinions about the matches and segments that stood out to us the most this week, for better or worse, this column is the place to be. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 11/13/26 episode of "WWE SmackDown!"

I will absolutely be popping a bottle of champagne in celebration of the day that WWE decides to have title matches end in no contests with another party involving themselves for one reason or another. Until that day comes, we will have to continue to sit through ridiculous finishes like the one that happened during the WWE Tag Team Championship pitting titleholders MFT against Bakusai.

I would much rather WWE not do an unnecessary interference no contest finish at all, but if they were going to do it, the September 18 episode of "SmackDown" in the non-title match between Bakusai and MFT that ended in a disqualification win for Bakusai anyways was a far more preferable time to have done it. At least WWE would still be able to introduce The War Raiders into the mix if they wished to in a manner that didn't see a match with a title on the line end in a manner that was as underwhelming and bland as the one we got tonight. It didn't work, and was just a bad idea from the get go.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

"SmackDown" opened with John Cena announcing another invitee to his event (this is not a tournament, no matter what they try to say). On "Raw," he offered the first spot to Cody Rhodes, so I'm not surprised that Charlotte Flair also got an invite. What I wasn't expecting was Flair's reaction.

Flair spoke from the heart when she accepted Cena's invitation. She told him that she had been dreaming of a way to get in the ring with him for a decade because she believed she was just as great as him. The conversation is always about Cena and her dad and 16 and then 17 title reigns and she wanted to be a part of the magic too. Then she spoke of how it was Cena's words that encouraged her to "put on my big girl pants" two years ago. Those words led to her believing in herself again. He told her to stop being perfect and to be herself. That's when everything changed and she is honored to be part of his legacy.

Flair became visibly emotional several times. She even asked the crowd to let her say what she needed to say to Cena. To end a lovely moment between the two, Cena said he always believed she would be the one to make it to 18 title reigns. The segment came off as endearing and authentic. While the JCC title seems to be more ceremonial than anything, Flair's reaction made it seem important for that moment at least.

Written by Samantha Schipman

I can't recall for the life of me a more randomly thrown-together women's WarGames match than this one, and I think it's only going to get worse on Monday's edition of "WWE Raw." Tonight, however, was bad enough, when we got the return of Stephanie Vaquer, simply for "La Primera" to be added into the match for no good reason, other than she's a babyface linking up with fellow babyfaces after Charlotte Flair called her up.

Vaquer's return overall was pretty anticlimactic. During a regular ol' brawl between the soon-to-be teams at ringside during Flair's match against Jacy Jayne, her music hit, and she ran out to help. Michin went after her with a kendo stick, but the babyfaces quickly stood tall, and Flair got on the microphone to simply shout "WARGAMES!"

I was already pretty much over this when Bayley was added to the mix for no reason. She started beefing with Jade Cargill backstage on "Raw" out of nowhere a few weeks ago, as Cargill was just there supporting Michin and B-Fab in their Women's Tag Team Championship storyline. It just spiraled from there for me, and while I'm glad Vaquer is back, hopefully fully healthy, and I'm glad that Tatum Paxley is getting an opportunity in WarGames, I just can't imagine getting excited for this one, even with two weeks to go.

At least the challenge was made and the match is seemingly official after tonight. It will be Flair, Paxley, Vaquer, Bayley, and Alexa Bliss against Cargill, Michin, B-Fab, and Fatal Influence's Jayne, Lainey Reid, and Fallon Henley. However, that's currently only five-on-six. If my "Raw" prediction is right, we're likely to see IYO SKY just thrown in here, as well, as WWE loves to have SKY in there for her signature trash can over-the-head jumping off the cage spot.

If that's not the case, then the babyfaces have to do a very un-babyface like thing and take out a member of the heel team ahead of the match, perhaps B-Fab or Henley or Reid. There's really no other way to just stick someone on the sidelines without this feeling even more random. I don't think there's any way for WWE to tidy this up before the match, and while this is the part where I'd usually say at least it's going to be a banger, I'm even worried about the bout itself with some of the talent involved.

Written by Daisy Ruth

After putting CM Punk away last week, Kevin Owens was free to get back into the WWE Championship pursuit this week, confronting Sami Zayn. But not before Zayn had the chance to cut an impassioned promo after he earned the respect of Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel last weekend.

It was a Sami promo, so it felt raw and real even while carrying the tinges of paranoid delusion that plagues his current character. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae stood behind him, one lapping up everything he said as though it was scripture on a tablet, the other very cynical and clearly exasperated with the whole ordeal.

Then KO came out at the crescendo of Zayn's proclamation, putting honey at the tip of the spoon at first. He made clear he has been Zayn's true "Ride or Die" from the beginning, and seeing him with the title, he is proud of him and he does believe that he deserves it. For all the talk of respect, he does respect him and he does believe that many backstage who look down their nose at Zayn could not lace up his boots on his worst day. Zayn, self-absorbed and self-righteous as his current character is, could not just accept those words for what they were. He was about to try and talk his way around him like he had with Gargano, try and make a common ground where it could not be found.

KO sensed that from his best friend, and he stopped him on the spot. Then came the vinegar and the rest of the spoon with it, as he told him that he wanted the WWE Championship too. More to the point, he would have already had the WWE Championship if it had not been for Zayn, and he was just about to get to the point of challenging Zayn before Gargano stepped between them.

KO told Gargano straight that, although he says he is waiting for a WWE Championship opportunity, he did get one for merely standing up straight, and this wasn't about him. He tried to make it about him; KO gave him a Stunner to kill that notion dead. Then, as Zayn walked away, Owens made it clear: his title reign was on borrowed time, and he would be the one to end it.

There doesn't really get much better in the promo department than Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, both as individuals and then twice-over when they're together in the ring, opponents or allies. Likewise, there doesn't get much better in the wrestling department than those two, and since that's the trajectory now, it gets a loved from me.

Written by Max Everett

Once again it was a "SmackDown" main event between two top notch wrestlers marred by a moronic, formulaic finish designed to pull the rug.

Going into tonight's show the one thing that stood out was the singles clash between GUNTHER and Finn Balor, one that had been brewing in recent weeks with Balor's "Demon" persona returning to scare the "Ring General" before disappearing to wherever Halloween decorations are stored for the rest of the year. 

It was an exciting prospect, especially with the constant hits to GUNTHER's character since pursuing the WWE Championship to no avail — an opportunity for him to get back to treating the mat as sacred and just beating a game Balor to gain some well-needed momentum. Much of the match seemed to be living up to that promise. It was a well-worked bout, the pendulum of momentum swinging either way and both guys simultaneously inches away from winning. It became a case of who would hit the kill shot first and everything was gearing towards a potentially explosive finish. 

But then GUNTHER pushed Balor into referee Charles Robinson. To be clear, he blatantly pushed Balor into Robinson with no reasonable kayfabe explanation to do so. In other words, a stupid move by someone experienced in the ring because it should cause a disqualification. Of course, it didn't cause a disqualification because that was the scripted finish, pushing Balor into Robinson so that Robinson could dive like a soccer player to the ground and miraculously only rise once GUNTHER had kicked Balor in the gonads and gone for the cover. 

It really makes you jaded to keep watching a show that has the unmitigated gall to keep screwing fans out of a finish. Every week feels like wrestling if you haven't paid for the battle pass, like you can get a taste of what our product might be but you cannot have the full thing outside of the Premium events. 

You have two great wrestlers in the ring. It's not as though Balor is this super-protected talent who cannot afford to lose. Losing to top guys has been a staple of his career, and there is no way that is changing because this time he lost to a nut-shot. Just have them wrestle a normal, good match with a normal, good finish that you can then build on. There doesn't have to be such a lack of soul to this product.

Written by Max Everett

I was happy to see GUNTHER best Finn Balor in the main event of "SmackDown," even if that victory was preceded by a low blow after a ref bump. It certainly wasn't the "Ring General's" cleanest victory, but after the week of rumors that have surrounded him, it was necessary.

It was reported that GUNTHER allegedly opted out of going to Saudi Arabia, and that's why he and Balor didn't face-off in the Kingdom, despite advertising for the match appearing around the initial arena where the event was scheduled. First of all, good for GUNTHER for sticking to his morals and opting out of the event, but that did bring about rumors on social media that he was likely to suffer in the booking department because of it.

Those rumblings only got louder when he lost a dark match to United States Champion Trick Williams ahead of "WWE Raw." However, that match was in Williams' native South Carolina, so I didn't personally put too much stock into that. GUNTHER getting the victory tonight makes me think he's going to be okay moving forward. Crown Jewel aside, he also needed the win after doing nothing for quite some time, outside of feuding with Danhausen, of all people.

I'm a big fan of Balor in the ring, though I'm not crazy enough to believe he's actually meant for another push, so I was a fan of this match. Sometimes I find GUNTHER's matches a bit boring, but I really enjoyed the fast-paced back half of this bout. Balor did a fantastic job of dodging GUNTHER's sleeper hold attempts into his own pin attempts, then a sling blade.

After laying them both out with a lariat, GUNTHER got up to trash talk Balor, telling him not to embarrass himself any further, and I'm always a big fan of that during matches. The ref bump came when GUNTHER avoided the Coup de Gras, but it wasn't too egregious, just long enough for GUNTHER to hit the low blow behind the ref's back before the match-winning powerbomb.

I believe the last time GUNTHER got a victory on Friday night TV was back in August when he bested Matt Cardona after insulting Chelsea Green. After that, you have to go back to his Undisputed WWE Championship feud with Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn in June to find any substantial work of GUNTHER's on "SmackDown." He needed this win, underhanded or not, and even if this feud with Balor continues for him to confront the demon and lose, tonight's victory was necessary to put internet rumors to rest, at least for the time being.

Written by Daisy Ruth